Is your business growing faster than you can handle?  When most companies get to a point of being overwhelmed, they start to flat line in their production. Customer satisfaction may go down and ability to keep growing at a desired pace is impossible. If this sounds a bit like your company and where it is headed, a call center may help you avoid slipping.  A call center, equipped with the right call center software, offers the following essential benefits:

1.) ENHANCE CUSTOMER RELATION

Because callers can immediately connect to your office, they can transact business with no more waiting time. It eliminates wasted calls. It gives your customers quick access to the information they want and thus results in improve relationship with them. And too often, because clients can reach your office immediately, it enhances their perception of your company. You getter more customers, more deals, more revenues.

2.) DISPLAY STATISTICS

In an ordinary helpdesk, your office can not track the number of calls you receive each day, how many of these calls were positively resolved, how many callers turn away,etc. A call center makes these statistics available so you will know measures to take in order to improve your business.

"We didn't take any interests on our calls in the past, " says Michigan-based farm tools company owner Chris Laverdale. " But with a call center giving us these data, we see some patterns and seek ways for improvement. These call center statistics are really helpful."

3.) IMPROVE EFFICIENCY

A call center allows staff to deal with more customers at any a given time. Richard Burgess, CEO of a large pharmaceutical company can attest to this. " The rapid growth of our company entails more doctors calling for prescription drugs and customers asking for product description. Our staff cannot handle this increasing volume of callers. A call center services solved our dilemna. Now, our personnel can take the growing calls and dispense the necessary services in less time, making customers happy. This translates to greater overall efficiency."

A call center, aside from handling live calls, can also process emails. In addition, it can handle fax, web-based queries, web-cam conferencing, Instant Messaging, and other means of communication for the company.

" Our struggling staff could hardly deal with the number of calls we receive, and we hardly have time for incoming emails. A number of deals were lost because we neglect emails. But now, we know better. Our call center which has an excellent call center software, processes our calls and emails. Now, we receive favorable business transactions out of these emails."

5.) MINIMIZE EXPENSES
With call center that has the right call center software, the same number of staff will be able to handle more calls. Sarah Danitz, an insurance company manager, has this to say, " We would have incurred large overhead expenses if we hire additional personnel to handle incoming calls. Instead, we turned to call center. It satisfactorily meets our demand. And we were able to save money in the long run."

As you can see, you need not hire additional personnel or install extra phone lines to meet caller volumes.

These are just some of the many benefits your company can enjoy from a call center.

Order fulfillment is a challenge for many independent publishers, especially companies that don't work with distributors, which usually include it among the services they offer. Defined as a sequence of steps that include invoicing, payment processing, adjusting sales and inventory records, and picking and packing and shipping an order, fulfillment services are for start-ups, small to medium presses and others doing their own distribution.

If you are considering fulfillment options, the basic question to start with is: Should I handle this function myself or outsource it? The information that follows should help you decide and then help you get the best from the option you have chosen.

If You Handle Fulfillment Yourself
Be smart about shipping and handling fees. I have noticed that many small publishers add just a small amount of money to actual costs to set shipping and handling fees to their products. This is a mistake, because these fees need to cover not only postage and delivery but also a variety of other expenses that the time-consuming fulfillment process entails, such as packing materials, overhead and labor for invoicing, payment processing, pick and pack, and customer service, plus a profit margin.

Next time you get a catalog, take a look at its shipping and handling fees. You will see that customers are used to paying shipping and handling fees that include more than just postage. In other words, let your customer bear at least a portion of the fulfillment costs. Your overall profit margin will benefit.

Assess your abilities. Keep in mind you won't just need to ship the product; you will also need to keep track of the financial aspects of your business.

o Do you have the time and resources to invoice your orders, process your customer's credit cards, and deposit payments in a timely fashion?
o Are you willing and able to handle order intake by Internet, phone, mail and fax?
o Can you handle pro-forma invoices from trade accounts?
o Are you knowledgeable about how to get your product to your customer the quickest and most economical way?
o Do you have a system for taking your sales and inventory on a monthly basis, if not more often?

If You Are Thinking of Outsourcing Fulfillment
First, do your research. Search for "order fulfillment for independent publishers" via your favorite search engine, and then get price quotes from a number of order fulfillment companies.

Examine fee structures. Many fulfillment companies charge a hefty monthly minimum fee if your volume of orders falls below a specified level. Find a company whose fee structure will let you determine your bottom line at the outset, and one that is flexible about tailoring its services to your needs.

Check on what the customer sees. As you may have noticed, when packages arrive at your door with stamps, a postage meter strip or Post Office payment sticker, they boldly display the cost of postage. The online fulfillment company you choose should utilize software that does not display postage or delivery costs; instead it should use a barcode or keyline so you can set shipping and handling fees that will cover fulfillment costs without trumpeting them.